update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/mitzvot/004.md

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 -----
 
-Ioan half lay, half slouched against the headboard, May draped bonelessly up along eir front. She'd gotten up to make them both coffee to drink in bed while they woke up, then proceed to doze off again, using eir chest as a pillow and the rest of em as mattress.
+Ioan half lay, half slouched against the headboard with May draped bonelessly up along eir front. She'd gotten up to make them both coffee to drink in bed, then proceed to doze off again, using eir chest as a pillow and the rest of em as mattress.
 
-Ey, meanwhile, had made it through most of eir coffee, resting the cup between the skunk's shoulder blades between sips. It was technically Christmas, though neither of them cared much for the holiday. The only reason it stuck in eir mind was eir plans for making the *tocană și mămăligă*  that had become tradition for em and May that afternoon. Ey hadn't learned to cook much prior to uploading --- just a few simple dishes for a poor student --- and it wasn't until ey had wound up on the System in eir current sim that ey'd gone back to teach emself all the things ey'd loved growing up.
+Ey, meanwhile, had made it through most of eir coffee, resting the cup between the skunk's shoulder blades between sips. It was technically Christmas, though neither of them cared much for the holiday, but that did mean it was the day for the *tocană și mămăligă* that had become tradition for them. Ey hadn't learned to cook much prior to uploading --- just a few simple dishes for a poor student --- and it wasn't until ey had wound up on the System in eir current sim that ey'd gone back to teach emself all the things ey'd loved growing up.
 
 It promised to be a lazy sort of day otherwise, which felt necessary. May's spike of anxiety when ey'd gone out for coffee a few days prior had quickly tapered off, but it had not simply gone away. The days that followed had included a lot of asking em if ey was okay and taking breaks to sit and look out the picture windows, doing breathing exercises.
 
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ She shrugged noncommittally.
 
 "Well, you're a pretty cozy blanket, if a little too warm, so I guess I'll allow it."
 
-Lifting her snout, she licked at eir shoulder, getting a laugh out of em. "Whereas you, my dear, are not a very good pillow. Just full to the brim with bones."
+Lifting her snout, she licked at eir shoulder, getting a laugh out of em. "Whereas you, my dear, are not a very good pillow. Just chock full of bones."
 
 "I need those to live."
 
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ Lifting her snout, she licked at eir shoulder, getting a laugh out of em. "Where
 
 "I'm not complaining. You're soft."
 
-"To be fair, that is what I like about you having skin, too, my dear. Skin is soft, as well. Were you a furry, though, what species would you be?"
+"To be fair, that is what I like about you having skin. Skin is soft as well. Were you a furry, though, what species would you be?"
 
 Ey pet along her back, thinking. "I don't know. I've only really had extensive interactions with skunks, foxes, and weasels. Maybe a squirrel?"
 
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ She looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "Solid competition."
 
 "I do!"
 
-She laughed and dotted her nose against eir cheek. "Excellent."
+She laughed and dotted her nose against eir cheek. "Excellent, I shall allow you to live another day."
 
 "You know, I've always wondered," ey said, getting an arm around her. "Why did the most political stanza of the clade stay skunks? Wouldn't it be more effective to be humans? It's not like the majority of folks on the Systems are furries."
 
@@ -70,13 +70,13 @@ She laughed and dotted her nose against eir cheek. "Excellent."
 
 Ey nodded. "It was pretty weird."
 
-"For both of us, yes. I like being what I am! Short, soft, furry, chubby," she said, poking at her belly. "It is just that these are all things that are disarming to a great many people. Even skunks, despite their reputation for smelling bad, are more often seen as bumbling, stupid creatures."
+"For both of us, yes. I like being what I am. Short, soft, furry, chubby," she said, poking at her belly. "It is just that these are all things that are disarming to a great many people. Even skunks, despite their reputation for smelling bad, are more often seen as bumbling, stupid creatures."
 
 "I wouldn't call you stupid, May. Bumbling, though..."
 
 She rolled her eyes. "Thank you, I think? But yes, even bumbling is a calculated gesture to be inoffensive."
 
-"End Waking said similar." Ey dug through eir exocortices until ey came up with the line, ""Were you amused by the absent minded way that I made tea? The way I just puttered around, doing this, then that, as though I kept remembering that I needed first wood, then water, then mugs?" He said it was a matter of intent."
+"End Waking said similar." Ey dug through eir exocortices until ey came up with the line, "He said it was a matter of intent."
 
 "It is, yes. I am sure that some of the wider clade who remain skunks are so without a second thought, but that is not how True Name worked, and so it is not how we work."
 
@@ -90,21 +90,21 @@ She made a sour face. "But everything that he did was intentional. Every aspect
 
 Ey nodded. It certainly tallied from eir memories.
 
-"But I think True Name kept it after the Council disbanded for much the same reasons. She is a furry because there are plenty of furries on the System. She remains in her early thirties because that is what one expects out of those on the System. She is not unattractive among furries, maintaining that soft figure and well kept appearance without heading towards sex-symbol because that is what many on the System wind up doing for one reason or another. She is normal, I am cute, Why Ask Questions is that shithead at the bar that everyone loves, and so on."
+"But I think True Name kept it after the Council disbanded for much the same reasons. She is a furry because there are plenty of furries on the System. She remains in her early thirties because that is what one expects out of those on the System. She is not unattractive among furries, maintaining that soft figure and well kept appearance without heading towards sex-symbol because that is what many on the System wind up doing. She is professional, I am cute, Why Ask Questions is that shithead at the bar that everyone loves, and so on."
 
 "Right, that makes sense." Ey hesitated, composing eir next words carefully. "You talk about her quite a bit. I know that--"
 
 "You asked, Ioan," she said, frowning.
 
-"I know, May, I just mean in general. I know you're consciously working on how you feel about her, and I keep bringing her up besides. Just an observation."
+"I know, May, I just mean in general. I know you're consciously working on how you feel about her and I keep bringing her up besides. Just an observation."
 
-The moment of tenseness lingered, then passed as she wilted against em, sighing. "I know, my dear. I did not mean to get snippy. You are right, and I am not sure how I feel about that fact, that she is so often on my mind. My feelings remain complex."
+The moment of tenseness lingered, then passed as she wilted against em, sighing. "I know. I did not mean to get snippy. You are right, and I am not sure how I feel about that fact, that she is so often on my mind. My feelings remain complex."
 
 "Oh, I definitely get that."
 
 "You seem to enjoy her company more."
 
-Ey shrugged. "I guess. It started out as a way to keep things smooth between us, but now it's just a thing to do outside the house."
+Ey shrugged. "I guess. It started out as a way to keep things smooth between our clades during the convergence, but now it's just a thing to do outside the house."
 
 "Coffee dates are good," she said, nodding.